Purl Soho, always an amazing source of killer blanket patterns, has been back at it lately. I still think if I ever knit a blanket, it will almost certainly have to happen in modular (i.e. log cabin) fashion, but these two are super tempting — and by the way both are free knitting patterns:
TOP: Nature’s Palette Blanket by Joelle Hoverson is an even more lyrical and painterly version of her long-ago Ombré Blanket but also brings to mind one of the first patterns I ever fell in love with as a knitter, their Striped Cotton Cowl. (Both discussed in this 2012 post, The other breed of colorwork.) Whereas the cowl had you holding a strand of randomly changing color along with a persistent strand of natural, the new blanket has you holding a rich range of colors together, alternating them along the way to create deep, mesmerizing color shifts.
BOTTOM: Double Knit Blanket by Jake Canton is, on the other, such a simple but effective thought — just two layers of stockinette “glued” together with a single stitch here and there — and double knitting has been on my list of things to try since the day I bought Joelle’s book as a shiny new knitter, thinking its double-knit coasters would be one of my first projects. I’ve still never done it! But think how cozy the blanket would be, and how fun to pick your colors.
Both would also be amazing knitted in wrap proportions — the blanket you get to wear everywhere.
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Fell hard for the Nature’s Palette blanket yesterday. It is PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT for my daughter who’s going off to college next year….granted, it won’t be good without strict washing instructions which include bring it home and let mom wash it. :-)
So, maybe knit it in cotton so she can just wash & dry it without you having to worry? It will just keep getting softer and softer . . . .
I’d happily curl up with one of these. BTW, as with so many things in the realm of knitting, the double-knitted blanket may have originated with EZ. One appears in the “February” chapter of her “Knitter’s Almanac”. I have a paperback copy, published by Dover in 1974 and sold for $3. The two-colour version, above, with its clever “seeds” is so typical of Purl Soho’s stylish simplicity. Love it!
That book was what got me knitting again. All the projects looked so stylish. I think you’re right that a wrap out of that blanket would look really cool.
I love that double knit blanket!
I bet you could do a fun modular version. I learned double knit for a glove hat, like so much in knitting, once you get over yourself, it turns out it’s surprisingly do-able 😊
I’ve been looking at wraps/blankets a bit lately, but I’m in the midst of some never-ending stockinette (on size 4 needles), and the thought of voluntarily doing that again so soon is mind-numbing. But I like a good blanket wrap. I’ll just need the temporary amnesia to set in after this project to start another stockinette love story.
Totally fell for the Nature’s Palette blanket too, especially since it is using 14 skeins of fingering yarn, and I have so much in my stash that is just wasting away. So I foresee this as the ultimate fingering weight stashbusting project. With the Log Cabin blanket (still to be completed) and this one, I think 2018 will be the Year of the Blanket for me. I’m itching to cast on.
I have tried double knitting and found it unbearably tedious, though I am a huge fan of the beautiful double-knit things people make. This blanket is gorgeous, and I love orange. I would just knit it in the round with some kind of phony seam ( a la EZ), and then embroider the gluing stitches. Nature’s Palette is just stunning too…though I have to wonder what it would be like in garter stitch or linen stitch…
I thought the same thing — knit it in the round with a slip stitch at each side for vertical fold lines. I double knit a large scarf once (which was totally do-able), but the idea of making something blanket-sized just makes my head hurt. I mean…why.
So I had the opposite reaction – having sewn a lining onto a blanket or two in my time (both multicolored, so I wasn’t happy with the exposed back) I know how shifty a large sheet of handknit fabric can be. Though maybe if back and front are knit in the round, things will line up well for the “quilting stitches” between the two. Nonetheless – my reaction was “genius” — wouldn’t that make a great baby blanket?
I’m in love with both of these. The colors! Oh, wow…
Just read through the Purl Soho’s Nature’s Palette Blanket pattern. Quickly, at first, and then more carefully. And the light bulb came on! What a stash breaker for a person who loves hand dyed fingering yarns so very much. Me… Now I’m feeling kinda stunned by the notion of this blanket with one of my very favorite stitches (much as I’d love to buy the whole bundle of exquisite Quill colors.)
Double knitting is more than slow. It is the slowest. To do a blanket in it is a monumental undertaking. I liked the idea of knitting it in the round and then tacking the front and back together in places.
I would not change a thing about that Nature’s Palette blanket except that I would want that glorious thing wrapped around me out in the world for all to see. And in looking at the dimensions, seems you could easily get two AMAZING wraps out of the one kit.
those are both lovely, and I can see so many options for tweaking and making them unique. But knitting a blanket! Such a herculean task. Not for me this year. Which won’t stop me collecting pretty yarn for when I DO commit to one!
The double knit blanket is gorgeous but, having just done double knit while making the Ply Cardigan (and it’s quite fun!), I can only imagine that it would take 100 years to make it (and I’m a fast knitter).
I am not sure I could do such a large project and stick with it. Then I’d beat myself up seeing it unfinished and stuffed into a corner. My goal is to knit a gansey on size 5 needles this year:)
There’s a whole sub-genre of Purl Soho patterns that I admire as eye candy but will never, ever knit — the endless swaths of seed stitch. They really love them some seed stitch over there! There is nothing so teeth-grinding to me as unremitting seed stitch (or 1×1 ribbing). I guess it’s all the yarn flipping…totally kills my flow. Maybe if I ever fulfill my dream of leveling up my lever knitting and getting a proper knitting belt, these beautiful, simple, brain-meltingly tedious designs will be within my grasp.
The color blending in the Nature’s Palette blanket is gorgeous (and, um, quite a clever way to sell yarn). It is tempting to try the same method with stash, but I suspect actually quite difficult to get a good result with disparate yarns that weren’t designed to work together. What might work better would be to lightly overdye the random stash yarns with a single tone to bring them into harmony. It’s amazing how overdyeing like that can create a harmonious, distinctive palette from even the craziest rainbow.
Great way to sell yarn, indeed! I was casually perusing their site earlier this week and this blanket caught my eye. I’ve been meaning to knit another blanket and the colors work perfectly with a blanket I’ve already made, plus an in-progress quilt. And then, wouldn’t you know it but they have a 15% off deal on the kit for this? Just purchased it this morning–in time to read Karen’s post.
I have knit their Worsted Twist Seed Stitch Wrap and it took forevvvvvvvvvver to knit and was tres boring, however, it is the most-worn hand knit I have made! I am actually working on a second one in different colors bc I am a crazy person. After this one is done (in prob 10 years) I will never seed stitch again!!!
The double-knit blanket’s on my “not right now, but eventually list,” but as much as I like their new Good Wool, I don’t want it for a blanket. I’ll likely knit up something very lightweight–dare I say, lace or fingering weight?–so that it’s a warm but not heavy or scratchy blankie.
Yes, I am an adult and I freely use the word “blankie.” :)
I got the Purl Soho ad for the blanket the other day, and have been trying to talk myself out of it. It would look so nice on my sofa. Sighhh.
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